Cambridge Analytica

I believe that the way Cambridge Analytica used user data was a large overstep of their boundaries. While social media needs to collect some data about you to recommend relevant topics, collecting data to build voter profiles without the consent of the users is wrong. Whether or not companies respect it, it should be the right of social media users to maintain some degree of privacy on these platforms. I believe taking data that was not consented to by the user is wrong in any sense, such as targeted ads and the like, but using it for this purpose and sharing it with foreign enemies in exchange for pay is on another level. I don’t believe social media platforms should regulate content, as we do live in the United States where free speech is protected under the 1st Amendment, and it should be up to the users to decide what is acceptable and what is not, as most people are more than capable of letting someone know what they think of their opinion. However, I do believe it is the duty of the platform to ensure that the data we have trusted them with is safe and secure. It especially should not be available for sale to those who might use it against us. Unfortunately, many people rely on these networks for communication and connection to others and would be unwilling to give them up because of a data breach. Because of the efficacy of their platforms in providing this service which is almost essential in today’s world, they should be held to higher security standards, especially when leaks could hurt our democracy, directly affecting not only the users but the lawmakers as well.